Lecture 6 Phonetic Stylistic Devices and Graphical Means

A fuller explanation of the topic sentence

Supporting sentences which explain its significance

The discussion of examples or evidence

A concluding or link sentence

The start of a new paragraph is usually signalled by either a double space between lines, or by indenting the first line of the new paragraph.

The following example [written by E. M. Forster] shows the skilful use of an attention-grabbing first sentence, and a concluding sentence which whets the reader's appetite to know more about the subject:

John Skelton was an East Anglian: he was a poet, also a clergyman, and he was extremely strange. Partly strange because the age in which he flourished - that of the early Tudors - is remote from us, and difficult to interpret. But he was also a strange creature personally, and whatever you think of him when we've finished - and you will possibly think badly of him - you will agree that we have been in contact with someone unusual.

Chapters and sections are major text segments. They may be compared with fragments of mosaic, which form the whole picture when put together.

A heading is the name of a text or its segment. It tends to disclose the plot of narration. It should be garish and catching in order to attract the potential reader's attraction.

Text segmentation is just one of the components of layout. Layout is the physical organization of a text on the page, the screen, or any other medium of written communication. It refers to the visual conventions of arranging texts to assist reading and comprehension. Good layout includes effective use of the following common features: page margins, paragraphs, justification, type style, italics, capitals, indentation, line spacing, centering, type size, bold, underlining. There are particular conventions of layout in each functional style. Some of conventions are based purely on the function of the text, and some on tradition. The modern trend is towards layout which results in fast and easy reading of the page. Layout complements content in efficient communication. It facilitates the reading and the comprehensibility of the text. All readers are affected by these conventions, even though they may not be aware of them.

To create additional information in prose discourse we can change an accepted graphical word representation or the spelling of a word or a phrase. This intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word used to reflect its authentic pronunciation is called graphon. It is an extremely concise but effective means of supplying information about the speaker’s origin, social or educational background, physical or emotional condition.

Another way to use a graphical device is to spell the word in capital letters when there’s no need to do it.

 

http://english.your-talk.com/t33-lecture-3-phonetic-stylistic-devices-and-graphical-means

http://www.tool-kit.ru/lekciy-en/74-phonetic-expressive-means-and-stylistic-devices-1-3.html

http://softacademy.lnpu.edu.ua/Programs/Nedaynova/module%201/chapter%205.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phonetic expressive means

 

The most powerful expressive means of any language are phonetic. Ways of the voice using are much more effective than any other means in intensifying an utterance emotionally or logically and the human voice can indicate most subtle nuances of meaning. In the language course of phonetics the patterns of emphatic intonation have been worked out, but many devices have so far been little investigated.

So, phonetic expressive means are the following:

Intonation, which is a language universal. Phoneticians give different definitions of intonation, but the most accepted one is by S.F. Leontyeva. According to Leontyeva’s point of view, intonation is considered to be a complex unity of pitch (melody), stress, tempo, temper and tamber and the way they are realized in speech.

Intonation is very important. It serves to form sentences and determines their communicative types. It divides sentences into intonation groups, it expresses the speaker’s thoughts and conveys the attitudinal meaning. One and the same sentence may express different meaning, when pronounced with different intonation:

e.g. When it’s a general question – Isn’t it ridiculous?

An exclamation – Isn’t it ridiculous!

Intonation determines the communicative type of sentences. The communicative types are differentiated in speech according to the aim of the utterance from the point of view of communication. There 4 main types of sentences:

Statements – I like music.

Questions – Can you do it?

Imperative sentences or commands – Just do it!

Exclamations – Right you are

The pitch component of intonation or a melody is the changers in the pitch of the voice in connected speech.

Sentence stress or accent is the greater prominence of one or more words among others words in the same sentence.

Word stress is realized since all the syllables in a word are pronounced with the same degree of force: usually one syllable is made more prominent than the others by means of stronger current of air, by a stronger expiration; such a syllable is called the stressed syllable. Word’s stress in English is free; the position of stress is not fixed: e.g. ‘many – be’llow – photo’graphic.

Tempo of speech – the rate of utterance which is connected with rhythm – the regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. It is so typical of an English phrase that the incorrect rhythm betrays the non-English origin of the speaker. Each sense-group of the sentence is pronounced at approximately the same period of time, unstressed syllables are pronounced more rapidly: the greater the number of unstressed syllables, the quicker they are pronounced. In its turn, rhythm is connected with sentence stress. Under the influence of rhythm words which are normally pronounced with two equally strong stress may lose one of them, or may have their word stress realized differently.

E.g., Picca’dilly -, Piccadilly ‘Circus – ‘close to, Picca’dilly, prin’cess – a, princess ‘royal

Temper is the relative speed with which sentences and intonation groups are pronounced in connecting speech.

Speech tamber is a special colouring of voice which shows the speaker’s emotions:

e.g. pleasure – displeasure

Paradoxal though it may seem, many of these means, the effect of which rests on a peculiar use of the voice, are banned from the linguistic domain. But there has appeared a new science – «paralinguistics» – of which all these devices are the inventory.

Vocal phenomena such as drawling, whispering, etc. should be regarded as parts of the phonemic system on the same level as pitch, stress and tune.

http://www.coolreferat.com/Stylistic_phonetics_based_on_the_examples_of_the_works_by_PB_Shelley_часть=2